when my headlight switch was not getting ground i was not able to turn on my dome light using the headlight switch.

your door jamb switch looks like it is stuck open which is why it is not working. you could probably spray it with some penetrating oil and make sure it moves in and out all the way and have it start working again. i don't think you should be seeing a spark if you ground the wire. do you have a test light? you could try grounding the door jambs switch wire using a test light. if all is working properly the test light and dome light should both light but will be dimmer since they would be sharing power.

i am guessing you might see some rust under that carpet.

 

They both move in and out like they should. And the one that is hooked up definitely has power since it sparked like I said. Why it's sparking when it touches the truck, I have no idea. Maybe there is a ground messed up. I don't have a test light, but I'm going to test both of them with the multimeter tomorrow.

As for the floor, I think there is vinyl underneath the carpet. What little I've been able to lift without destroying the entire piece I've found vinyl. That, and it doesn't exactly look totally factory.

 

well the picture you posted shows it stuck open which make me think it may not be working properly. should be able to rotate 360* and go in and out without sticking. now no matter what there should be power at the wire hooked to the switch waiting for the door to open and the circuit to be completed. now sometimes a spark can be good or bad which is why i was thinking using a test light might be a good idea. if the test light and the dome light both light then things are probably ok and you are just seeing a good spark caused by not disconnecting your battery before you work on electrical. could could make a test light using a bit of wire, a light and some electrical tape. doesn't need to be fancy. just needs to light up using a wire.

 

I'll clean the switches and test the wires tomorrow.


I had been doing reading on volt gauges, some of the stuff I looked at said to hook it into the radio harness. Since my radio wire still works could I just hook it into that and then ground it somewhere?

 

ya you could hook into the radio wire. you could can ground it anywhere metal or possibly the stereo ground wire if there is one there.

 

Alright, cool. The gauges I was looking at are like 20 bucks.
There isn't a stereo ground, I think it got part of it's ground from the antenna. Not sure though. There is enough metal dash, I think I can find somewhere to ground it.

 

Well, I got the dome partially working. The passenger side turns it on and off, driver side is broken. Switch is pretty messed up, I don't think it's fully closing the connection since it's corroded.

In other news! I found where the mystery brown wire on the starter relay goes. It's got some sort of factory male plug on it. I was thinking of using it instead of the radio power to work the voltage gauge I've yet to put in. Only problem is since it's running off the starter relay, it's 12v all the time. 14.5 volts when the engine is running too. That tells me the alternator is doing it's job. lol

Here's a pic:

 

http://s1303.beta.photobucket.com/us...tml?sort=3&o=0


A little older video, but still sounds the same.

 

How hard are all the belts to get off? I need to replace the alt.-a/c belts.
I am still considering the 14x3, could I maybe get a little better mileage with it? It runs a tad rich as it is now, so more air.......

 

i don't think a 14x3 would make that much of a difference. could just need to be tuned.

i am not 100% sure about the big blocks but usually the power steering belt is about the worst belt to get off. i know on my 81 it requires a 1/2 drive ratchet to get the bracket to move. if the one on your truck is similar to this it might be easier. alternator belts are usually easy to change.